6,500 miles seems to be a bit early for the oil life to be down to 4% since the 'normal' wear interval is probably between 7,500 and 10,000 (they don't specifically mention this in the manual, but rather that the change interval should not exceed 10,000 miles.) We've only done a few 3hr trips and the rest is 'around town' driving.
4% oil life @ 6500 miles??
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Model Year:
2020
Gas / Hybrid:
Hybrid
Trim:
Limited S
Around the town driving is considered stop and go driving which wears out engine oil quicker.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/07/hard-driving-changing-engine-oil/
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That is right about where mine was at that mileage.
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If this is the first oil change, I wouldn't worry about it. This includes the break in period for the engine. If it's the 4th oil change, it's a little low, but not incredibly so. If that's a pattern, you may want to talk to the service department.
It is the first oil change. I'll be doing the change myself.
I'm also getting a below average MPG at ~14. I'm not a heavy foot at all around town and i always use ACC when on a highway but i can never seem to break 15mpg. I even started to focus on getting the best city mpg that i can and i cant break the 15mpg mark. Even on an all highway trip using the ACC set at 70mph i usually can't break the 23mpg mark.
Something doesn't sound normal with the vehicle. Certainly worth getting it reviewed soon. Seems like at least 18mpg should be achievable with that driving style.
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Agreed, seomthing is up. I'd get it to service.
just for clarification sake i'm getting 14 city/ 23 highway. I realized how i wrote my last post may come off a little confusing.
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It's depends on the amount of stop and go you do on your drive. Acceleration from a complete stop takes a lot of energy, car is 6,000 lbs. 14mpg is not that uncommon if you commute around the city like SF. Lots of stop signs and hills. I also found that the Limited gets less mpg that the Touring, weight difference?
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I am at a little under 50% at 4k miles so while 6500 is low its not too low.
As for your millage for a comparison on a typical day I drive all short trips. 3 miles to the gym, 3 miles home. 3 miles to work 3 miles home. With that kind of driving I have had tanks where I only average 15 or 16 mpg.
Now on tanks where its 90% highway driving I have seen 27.5.
So it all depends on your driving, it takes any car time to warm up and reach peek efficiency. So if you take a lot of short trips your millage will not be very good.
As for your millage for a comparison on a typical day I drive all short trips. 3 miles to the gym, 3 miles home. 3 miles to work 3 miles home. With that kind of driving I have had tanks where I only average 15 or 16 mpg.
Now on tanks where its 90% highway driving I have seen 27.5.
So it all depends on your driving, it takes any car time to warm up and reach peek efficiency. So if you take a lot of short trips your millage will not be very good.
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Just curious are you saying the Pacifica is 6000 lbs? I thought it was about 4300 lbs?
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You are right - excerpt from Chrysler's Pacifica specifications brochure: https://www.fcausfleet.com/assets/docs/VehiclePDF/Pacifica_Specifications.pdf
EPA Curb Weight, lbs. (kg)
4,330 (1,964) gas engine models
4,943 (2,242) hybrid models
What does the car computer check to determine the need for a oil change? Time and millage is not the criteria.
I always use the millage criteria.. and keep it lower than suggested. :nerd:
The computer continuously tracks how the engine is operated. For instance, a lot of stop and go driving or short trips will translate into a shorter oil life than, say, mostly highway driving. Using the mileage recommendation from the owner's manual also requires you to pick the correct operating condition such as "normal" or "severe". The definitions for operating condition are somewhat subjective and the conditions may change over the oil change interval. You may end up changing the oil sooner or later than needed. The computer provides a more accurate oil change interval based on actual use rather than general operational averages. BTW, time is an important consideration. The additives in oil breakdown over time. Low mileage, typified by short trips that do not allow the engine to get up to operating temperature and maintain it for a period of time, may require the oil to be changed, say, once a year even if the mileage is far short of the recommended oil change interval.
You are saying that the computer can analyse all 3 ? Millage/Time/Driving Condition and make a call as to when to change the oil? :surprise:
Definitely mileage and driving conditions. I do not know about time. For instance, if you drove the car 200 times in a 1 year period for 5 miles each trip (1,000 miles), I doubt the % oil life would drop accordingly to recommend an oil change at the end of the one year period.
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From Edmunds - an article about oil life monitoring if you want to geek out a bit on the subject:
https://www.edmunds.com/car-care/oil-life-monitoring-systems.html
I drove our vac today. We have similar mileage of around 6500 but my computer life oil is at 64%. Now 2/3 of my mileage was a nearly all highway mile trip so that could skew my oil life expectancy.
I had the oil changed around 1500 miles and don't intend on doing another change until closer to 10k/1year mark. Whichever comes first.
I had the oil changed around 1500 miles and don't intend on doing another change until closer to 10k/1year mark. Whichever comes first.
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